Automatic street-car fender



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

J. T. VAN GEST EL. AUTOMATIC STREET GAR FENDER.

No; 5s1,2s4. Patented Dec. 18,1894.v

attest- JIZVI Zi 0' THE NORRIS PETERS 1:01 PHOTuLWNQ. wnsrgmcmu. u. c.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEAN TH. VAN GESTEL, OF NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO B. H.

SHERWOOD, OF BENSONHURST, NEW YORK. I

AUTOMATIC STREET-CAR FEND ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,234, dated December18, 1894.

Application filed November 10, 1893. Serial No. 490.555. (N0 model.) A

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEAN Trr. VAN GEsTEL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York andState of New York, have invented a certain new and and useful AutomaticStreet-Car gender, of which the following is a specifica- My inventionrelates to fenders for street cars and is particularly designed for useon trolley and other electric cars and also on cable cars. I style it anautomatic fender because it is so constructed that it is normally drawnup out of sight and outof the way and in case of need it is thrown intooperative position. 1 i

The main objection to those fenders which are permanently attached to acar in a manner to be always in operative position is, that,

to be at all effectual, they must project to such an extent as to bealways in the way when shifting the cars at the termini of the roadagain they must be placed so close to the pavement, in order to'be ofany practical use, that when the car is crossing other tracks orswitches or running fast over an uneven road, such fenders are liable tostrike the pavement and be'utterly demolished. Even when such fendersare placed as close as practical to the pavement they are stillsufficiently removed therefrom to allow the arm or leg of a person to becaught thereunder and so maim the person for life. I

My fender is designed to be in use only for an instant at a time and isso located that the projecting edge thereof can come down upon thepavement rendering it impossible for an arm or leg of a person to becaught under it and at the same .time the parts thereof lie at such aslight angle to the pavement that it is impossible for them to catchthereon. Their inclination is such that they would ride easily over suchobstruction.

A very desirable feature of my fender is found in the net which I usefor preventing the victim caught by the fender from striking against thedraw-head or the brake-rod, or the edge of the car platform. This netalso furnishes'a means by which the person can sustain himself upon thefender until the car stops.

To the ends above specified my invention consists in the constructionand combination of parts ashereinafter specified and set forth in theclaims. v

Referring to the accompanying drawings which form a part of my inventionand in which corresponding parts are indicated by likereference'characters: Figure 1, is a view in perspective showing myautomatic fender projected into position ready for action. Fig. 2, is aside elevation, partially in section, showing said fender retracted intoits normal position. Fig. 3, is a longitudinal sectional view showingthe fender projected. Fig. 4, is a plan View of the fender, the casingthereof being partially in section and the relation of the car theretobeing indicated by dotted lines; and Fig. 5, is a view showing thedetails of the releasing and retracting mechanism for the fender.

In the drawings, A, indicates the platform of a car; B, the sheath forthefender; O, the bracket by which said sheath is pivotally supportedfrom the under side of the platform; D, the fender proper, and E, theguard net.

The sheath B, has an expanded portion at one end for the reception ofthe fender while the other end is cylindrical and may be formed of gaspipe; trunnions being secured thereto at F, forsupporting it'in thebracketC, and bearings being formed at the end thereof for the sheave G.

The fender is in the form of a fan and is' composed preferably of steelrays H, and a canvas web I, which is secured to the rays by means ofbars screwed to said rays as shown in Fig. 3. The rays are flattened andperfo-p rated at their inner ends and are pivoted in the end of the barJ, which bar is fitted to slide in the stem of the sheath so as to guidethe fender and to support it when projected.

To this bar J, are secured eyes K, which pro.

ject laterally therefrom through slots in the sides of the stem of thesheath. These eyes keep the fender in the proper plane and at,

rays near their ends are hinged the stays L, which are also hinged attheir other ends to the sheath as shown in Fig. 4. These stays are forthe purpose of spreading the fan-shaped fender as it is projected by thesprings L.

The releasing device is shown in detail in Fig. 5. A shaft M, is locatedagainst thedashboard at the middle thereof, its lower end passingthrough and extending below the platform and a portion of its upper endbeing inclosed in the box N. A small drum 0, is secured to the lower endof the shaft M, and from it extends a rope or chain P, back over thesheave G, and into the stem of the sheath to an eye at the end of thebar J. Within the box N, on the bottom thereof is located a conedbearing Q. Above this hearing is an enlargement of the rod M, which isconed to fit said bearing. This enlargement is also slotted to receivecatches R, which are pivoted in said slots. The inner ends of thesecatches are halved so that they may overlap when lying in a horizontalposition. This horizontal position is their normal position and when solying they rest in notches formed in the bearing Q. The catches prevent,in this position, the shaft M, from turning. This shaft is bored at itsupper end, to a point below the enlargement, for the reception of thetrip pin S, said bore being extended out through the side of the shaftto allow the escape of any dirt that may enter the bore. This pinnormally rests in said bore and is supported upon the inner ends of thecatches R, said ends of the catches being beveled to receive the end ofthe pin and to allow it when struck to enter between them and throwtheir outer ends out of the notches in the bearing Q, in which positionthey will be retained until the pin is withdrawn.

The guard net E, is secured at its lower edge to the rays of thefan-like fender, preferably at the end of said rays, and at the upperedge to the dash-board, preferably to eyes attached to the metal stripacross the top of the dashboard, as shown in Fig. 3. This net normallyhangs down against the front of the dashboard and may have openingsformed therein for the head-light and the draw-head.

The fender is operated as follows:When a car approaches a child or anyperson who from some cause or another is apparently unable to get out ofthe way of the car before it gets to them, or when a car is approachinga crowd and there is liability of danger to some of its members, themotor-man strikes upon the pin S, which may be provided with abroad-head, and forces it down between the catches R, which are therebythrown out of the notches. This releases the shaft M, and allows it torotate as the chain P, is unwound therefrom by the stress of the springsL, exerted upon the bar J, to which said chain is attached. Undertheinfluence of said springs, the fender and net are projected and assumethe positions shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the stays L, spreading thefender as it is shot forward. After the accident has been averted or thedanger is passed, the pin S, is with drawn, the motor switch handle T,or one purposely provided is placed upon the upper end of shaft M, thepin is again inserted and forced down between the catches and said shaftturned until by winding the chain 1 upon the drum 0, the fender has beendrawn back into its sheath as shown in Fig. 2. The pin is then raisedsuificiently to allow the catches to fall into place after which thehandle T may be removed.

The fender projects sufficiently at the sides of the car to prevent anyperson who may be shoved thereby off the track from getting under thewheels or being struck by the steps.

I prefer to construct the fender substantially as above set forth, butitis obvious that many changes might be made therein. The net might bemade of sufficientlysmall mesh to allow the omission of the canvas webfrom the fender and the rays simply held together by cords or chainsextending from one ray to another; also instead of the springsL, beinglocated as shown they may extend along the sides of the sheath and beconnected at one end thereto. They may also be supplemented or replacedby a spring located in the stem of the sheath between the end thereofand the end of the bar J.

Various other changes in the details of construction and arrangement maybe made without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

What I claim as my invention is-- 1. The combination with a sheath, of afolding fender retractible therein, and means for automaticallyprojecting and unfolding said fender.

2. The combination with a car, of a sheath supported thereunder,afan-like folding fender retractible within said sheath, means forretracting said fender, springs for projecting said fender, andreleasing mechanism controlling the projection of said fender.

3. The combination with a car, of an automatically projectible foldingfan-like fender, normally retracted under the car and a net connectedthereto and to the dash-board of said car, for the purpose set forth.

4.. The combination with a car, of an automatically projectible fenderof fan-like construction, means for retracting the same, a sheath forreceiving said fender when retracted, and a net connected at one edge tothe fender and at the other to the dash-board of the car.

5. The combination with a car, of a retractible folding fan-like fender,a shaft upon the platform of said car connected with means forretracting said fender, catches for holding said shaft in position, areleasing device for said catches, and springs for projecting saidfender rendered operable by the release of said catches.

6. The combination with a car, of an automatically projectible fender, asheath therefor pivotally supported under the car in a 531,234 r V smanner such that when the fender is projected it will meet the track atsuch an oblique angle as to over-ride any roughness therein.

7. The combination with a car and an auto-.

matically projectible fender therefor, of a combined retractingandreleasing device, substantially as shown, consisting of the shaft M,with its drum and catches, notched bearing Q, the pin S, and the handleT.

8. The combination with a car, of a foldingfan-like fender normallyretracted under the car, a not connected to the forward end thereof andto the dash-board above the drawhead, and means under the control of thedriver for projecting the folding fan-like fender.

9. A fan-like fende'r normally folded under the car-,and means forprojecting and spreading the same, as and for the purpose described.

10. The combination with a car, of a retractible fan-like fender, meansfor projecting the same, and stays connected to the terminal raysthereof for spreading said fan-like fender as it is projected. V

11. The combination with a car, of aretractible fan-like fender, asliding stem connected to the rays thereof, means for guiding andholding said stem, and stays connected to the terminal rays of the fanfor spreading the same as it is projected.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 6th day of November, Ai D. 1893.

JEAN TH. VAN GESTEL.

Witnesses:

WM. H. OAPEL, THos. F. CONREY.

